2023-07-28 16:41:15
6:23 p.m
Ferrari strong, Max stronger
What a final for the pole position for the race Sunday! First the two Ferraris do brilliant laps, then Max Verstappen goes one better and tops Charles Leclerc’s time by eight tenths, third is Sergio Perez.
Due to Verstappen’s grid penalty, Leclerc moves up to pole on Sunday, Perez starts from two and Lewis Hamilton from three. Also very strong: Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris in all three qualifying sessions.
The report can now be read here!
6:50 p.m
Emotional Funk
Max Verstappen was also asked about the brief dispute between him and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase at the press conference. When asked by our Dutch colleague Ronald Vording from the Dutch edition of ‘Motorsport.com’ whether Lambiase might have been right in hindsight because he was in danger of running out of battery:
“Honestly, I don’t have to comment on this. I’ll discuss it with him.”
© Motorsport Images
6:45 p.m
Tight box
Why did Max Verstappen actually have such a hard time in Q2 when he just barely made it into the last qualifying section? He commented on this in the press conference of the Top 3:
“I had to abandon my first lap because I went over the white line at turn 9 or 8. So I had to abandon that lap and did another slow one. I felt like I was losing a little too much temperature in the tires. And because of this error I am in [Kurve] 9 or 8 made, I left there [beim nächsten Versuch] a lot of air, but that was way too much. And because the track got faster so quickly, it was very, very tight.”
6:40 p.m
Hulk hydraulic problems
Why wasn’t Nico Hülkenberg able to set a fast lap anymore?
“We had a hydraulic problem. The guys were still trying to fix it in time. We actually made it out there again, but there wasn’t enough time left to start another fast lap. That shortened qualifying for us. Me think half a minute was missing,” he told media representatives after qualifying.
Unfortunately he has to start the race from the back on Sunday, but he hasn’t really felt comfortable in the Haas all day.
© Motorsport Images
5:59 p.m
Short delay
It will still be a few minutes before Q3 begins, because at the end of turn nine the gravel has to be swept off the track, which Kevin Magnussen scattered on the asphalt during his ride and, to make matters worse, also cleared the Rolex perimeter with his rear end.
Incidentally, Esteban Ocon was also caught in this curve.
5:55 p.m
The times are falling
The track is drying more and more, meanwhile the drivers have the slick tires on them and the times tumble and tumble. The finish was again very close and fought. At the end of Q2, Oscar Piastri secured the best time. Max Verstappen just barely got through, was only tenth, he only managed a fast lap in his last attempt on the soft tires.
Out are Tsunoda, Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas and Ocon, who had a rough contact with the tire stack and had to pit with a busted nose.
5:32 p.m
Exciting finish
The end of Q1 was really tough again, because some people really had to worry. Charles Leclerc really liked the drying conditions and was able to win the session.
Out are Albon, Zhou, Sargeant, Ricciardo (deleted lap time) and Hulkenberg, who, contrary to his usual nature, didn’t really get along in these conditions.
5:20 p.m
Transmission change at Sargeant
Williams gets the American Logan Sargeant on the track in qualifying after his crash in FT1. As a precaution, they changed their gearbox.
© Motorsport Images
5:09 p.m
sun is here!
April weather in Spa! At the start of the session, the sun is now showing!
Craziness!
17:00 o’clock
Ten minutes
The qualifying starts 10 minutes later, the race control has just decided that.
They’re trying to dry the track a bit further, it’s not raining in Spa right now.
4:35 p.m
What happens to the qualification?
It’s currently raining heavily in Spa. Unfortunately, Formula 2 got it badly, first it was dry enough for slick tires, then it rained heavily.
Will Formula 1 qualifying even start at 5 p.m.?
© Motorsport Images
3:30 p.m
electric blankets stay!
The F1 Commission has met and decided, among other things, that there will continue to be electric blankets for slick tires in Formula 1 in the 2024 season. This means that a proposal to abolish electric blankets from next season has been rejected. However, further tests will be carried out and changes may be made in 2025.
Here’s the story about it!
© LAT
2:16 p.m
Nobody drives
15 minutes before the end, the track is open again, but nobody is currently driving because the rain has increased a bit again.
With a view to qualifying at 5 p.m., no one wants to take any risks.
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